Was life better before the war and in the 50's?

originally posted by: liveandlearn
a reply to: fusiondoe

I was a child in the 50's and imo it was better. Far less crime. People didn't keep door's locked. We could walk to the store at night alone and without fear. Then there was only msm and shows like Ozzie and Harriet, Leave it to Beaver, etc.

Now shows are sexually explicit and violent. Compared to today it was a fairyland. At the same time we had little access to information.

In the last 8 years many people even some conservative progressives see that an agenda has been pushed to far too fast that much of the country hasn't had a chance to assimilate it, if they ever will.

Me too: Ike was POTUS from 1953-1961 and most of the country had supported WW2 in one way or the other. There was a common belief that the government had our backs and welfare at heart. Vietnam changed much of that along with Nixon and the war on drugs..... along with several other stories and things that helped in many ways for happiness and the dream of the then America head down hill.

If I had to evaluate the 50s it would be more Americans spoke with a common voice and shared common goals...call it the belief in the American dream.. No one sat for the national anthem unless they wanted their butts beat I am pretty sure.. I doubt the thought even occurred when the song was played ? Now it seems everyone is divided into their individual "what about me" instead of I am an American first and the welfare of the country and my allegiance to the country comes first.

Past government decisions/actions had much to do with the seeds of discontent IMO

This all certainly escalated quickly

a reply to: 727Sky

I agree. It would be the rare person who would sit for the national anthem. As jaded as I am now I would still stand because in the beginning it represented the ideal, although it is likely changes against the constitution were already being made.

For those of us who have lived a long time and seen the change in what seems to be a short time and at the same time sudden and overwheming, we still ask what happened and why didn't we see it coming. The answer would be, lack of available information

originally posted by: fusiondoe

originally posted by: cancerslug
a reply to: fusiondoe
remember it was also a time of white only drinking fountains and etcetera.

I'm not talking about whether it was all white, that did not even come up in the conversation I had with him.

We was talking about the sense of community and the fact that people were not so greedy, self absorbed and selfish back then

Of course not, because that's inconvenient.

If your family had been the ones not allowed to use certain entrances, water fountains and bus seats -- I'm sure they'd recall the time period a bit differently.

a reply to: liveandlearn

Actually, the availability of incredible amounts of information and the ability to quickly share that information is what happened.

People learned what their government was really up to. The innocence was lost. The illusion and willful slumber was broken.

We learned about how the CIA was running drugs and overthrowing elected leaders of other countries. We learned that our politicians were bought and paid for by corporations who killed our unions. We learned that our military is used to kill people for the M.I.C and oil companies.

We grew up.

originally posted by: liveandlearn

originally posted by: Annee

originally posted by: liveandlearn

At the same time we had little access to information.

Important observation.

Good or bad? Why?

The real world exists whether you're protected from it or not.

Only alternative info was from books and you had to have a clue to even explore.
We lived in ignorant bliss.

Or secret clubs, blanket tents, playground misinformation.

I only had TV and newspaper when I lived with grandparents. Everyone didn't have phones.

I remember my first TV. The no scheduled program symbol, and fighting over programs.

Neighborhood market, one car. Gotta go to doctor? Hubby arranged to drive neighbor to work, so his wife can drive you to the doctor.

In 1963 I was as senior in high school

Senior 1964.

a reply to: fusiondoe

I don't know about better, but they were certainly smarter in many aspects. They could still reason with one another without using liberal expression-isms.

Information was a lot more controlled. In these times we have the opposite problem: to much information.

Also, people would get a job and keep it until they retired (on a good pension!) and had pride in their company. The company they probably worked for paid them well, and they made enough money to have the needs of their family met on ONE salary.

The purchasing power of the working American was higher, the corporate tax rates were higher, unions were stronger, people were more sheltered from world geopolitics...

People felt more embedded in their communities because they had more time to focus on knowing their neighbors. People didn't move around a bunch because of being laid off. People felt like they mattered more in their communities.

As corporate greed slowly took over in the 60's and 70's -- Americans started to wake up, but it wasn't the right kind of awakening that the corporate overlords wanted.

Nope. Reagan came along with "Good Morning, America" to make sure Americans were waking up the *right* way.

As more and more money was pumped into our government, and more more regulations stripped away ... people had to work harder for less. And at the same time, these people began to worship the people who were paying them less at the same time. How odd. Instead of demanding to know why they're getting less for doing more, they double downed on trying to "please" and supplicate the very people who were laying them off and cutting their paychecks.

"Please sir, can I have some more?"

"SURE! You can have all this made in China stuff! And all this fast food! And cheap, hollow television programming to numb your brain!"

originally posted by: Kettu
Information was a lot more controlled. In these times we have the opposite problem: to much information.

Also, people would get a job and keep it until they retired (on a good pension!) and had pride in their company. The company they probably worked for paid them well, and they made enough money to have the needs of their family met on ONE salary.

The purchasing power of the working American was higher, the corporate tax rates were higher, unions were stronger, people were more sheltered from world geopolitics...

People felt more embedded in their communities because they had more time to focus on knowing their neighbors. People didn't move around a bunch because of being laid off. People felt like they mattered more in their communities.

As corporate greed slowly took over in the 60's and 70's -- Americans started to wake up, but it wasn't the right kind of awakening that the corporate overlords wanted.

Nope. Reagan came along with "Good Morning, America" to make sure Americans were waking up the *right* way.

As more and more money was pumped into our government, and more more regulations stripped away ... people had to work harder for less. And at the same time, these people began to worship the people who were paying them less at the same time. How odd. Instead of demanding to know why they're getting less for doing more, they double downed on trying to "please" and supplicate the very people who were laying them off and cutting their paychecks.

"Please sir, can I have some more?"

"SURE! You can have all this made in China stuff! And all this fast food! And cheap, hollow television programming to numb your brain!"

This ^

Post WWII the economy grew at an exponential rate. As a country we celebrated our newfound international winner status and roared economically. The truth is at least half the citizens came from an agrarian background and whirled in this new world.

My parents exploded from the war and lived in new suburban jungles with loads of opportunities if one were willing to educate and work for it. Expectations were high especially with Kennedy-we felt good about ourselves and our children's future.

It began to end with Vietnam, the draft, assassinations of the Kennedys. King, etc. Blacks stood up for themselves as well as women. Discontent spread everywhere like a disease and then Nixon showed us all just how to get things done. By that time, the big cities with Johnson's "New Society" crumbled in decay and poverty and the gangs took over with the mafia. 70s NYC was scary.

Basically, no-I don't think the post WWII can be remembered as a better time than now.

Opportunities for self education and abilities to shape our world are so plentiful-we know more and that causes alot of stress-but we do have xanax.

As a child of the 50s, I don't feel nostalgic at all-I love all the knowledge and opportunities available for myself as well as my children.

originally posted by: JesusXst
They could still reason with one another without using liberal expression-isms.

Pre-anti housing discrimination
Pre-employment equality
Pre-disability act
Pre-civil rights
Pre-women's equality
Pre-LGBT equality
Pre-police brutality
Pre-anti bullying

Pro-Segregated neighborhoods (ethnicity, religion, race, etc)

Pro-corporal punishment at home & school

Pro-Christian dominance in public school.

Pro-Good Old Boys White Man club.

Liberal? Liberal expression? Of what?

a reply to: Justso

Most of the industrialized world was bombed to hell and didn't have the capacity to manufacture the needed infrastructure goods. The steel, machinery, tools, ect -- those were all needed from American factories post WWII.

Without American factories (that weren't bombed or attacked), most of Europe and Asia would have taken far longer to recover. America basically rebuilt the industrialized world, and it paid its workers well. The government had higher marginal tax rates and the American worker demanded (and got) good pay for good work.

We will NEVER see America's economy booming like we did in the 50's again.

Post-WWII America was a unique time in history. Many factors were all in alignment that caused the prosperity we saw.

No amount of legislation or tweeting is going to return America back to that time period. You can't eat enough member berries to make it happen.

I probably should have mentioned that my Grandparents and I live in England so they are only talking of the 50's in England.

However please continue guys. It's interesting hearing about the US back then!

a reply to: fusiondoe I think your grandparents are in 'wishfull rememberance' and their stories of halcyon days would be best taken with a grain of salt.

And yes, your mentioning playing in bomb sites and having won the war would clearly indicate that they lived in England.

a reply to: fusiondoe

Depends very greatly upon who you were, and where you were.

The fifties were a time of great change, or the time when that change began. Not just the civil rights movement in the south, but the farm workers in the west. Women had realized that there was a great big world out there just waitin' for 'em, and they wanted to share in it, too.

Inevitably, this led to backlash and conflict. Watts. Lynchings in the both the south and the west. In the world in general, political upheaval was the order of the day, as well. Countries were attempting to break away from years, decades, even centuries of domination by foreign rulers. Cuba. Hungary. Vietnam. China. All of Africa at some point.

America, in large part, seemed untouched by it, but we weren't. My family certainly wasn't. My mom and dad were a military family, a large military family--with all the struggle that that can imply. My Dad, and his brothers/brothers in law all went to war at some point in the fifties, and sixties--you can't really separate the two decades in my humble opinion--my Dad in Korea and Vietnam, as well as the burgeoning Cold War. My Uncles were in Vietnam at some point.

So it very much depended upon who and where you were. But few were not effected in some way by the turmoil.

a reply to: fusiondoe

England?

Not as familiar with that, obviously...

But I can't imagine having to rebuild after a war, and social upheaval that that ushered in were exactly easy to deal with.

But sometimes, I would guess, that living in the time you don't notice because you're too busy living to do so. It's later that you hear that it was a golden age, or a horrible time...usually told to you by folks who weren't there.

My Dad never uttered the words Greatest Generation when talking about his time. He was way too busy living it to worry about what to call it.

a reply to: Kettu
I was born 1960.
Interesting how ROCK evolved as well Pioneers like Buddy Holly ,Elvis,Beatles to Kiss,hairbands then grunge slew it all.

originally posted by: fusiondoe
I probably should have mentioned that my Grandparents and I live in England so they are only talking of the 50's in England.

However please continue guys. It's interesting hearing about the US back then!

At least you don't have to deal with the Christian Right.

a reply to: Annee

And just what do you have against my followers?

originally posted by: cancerslug
remember it was also a time of white only drinking fountains and etcetera.

The OP is talking about life in England. Even before you see the location "London", the term "bomb site" gives it away. German bombs did not get as far as America.